The Jets’ defense met Monday and did a walk-through of the plays on which it made glaring mistakes in Sunday’s 19-3 loss at Baltimore.

“The walk-through was three plays,” said defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson. “Defense did our job.”

The Ravens gained 312 yards – 126 of which came on a 60-yard completion and a 66-yard touchdown pass. The Jets’ defense reviewed those two plays Monday, along with a mistake on a read option, Wilkerson said.

The defense has done it part for most of the year, though deep balls continue to be a problem. The Jets rank first in the NFL with 72.6 rushing yards allowed per game. The next-closest team, Arizona, has surrendered 81.3.

“There are going to be sometimes when the defense has to carry the load until the offense gets righted, and vice versa,” said Jets coach Rex Ryan.

But in the NFL, teams can rarely mask poor quarterback play. And the Jets’ rookie quarterback, Geno Smith, has done little to inspire since Oct. 7, when he led the Jets to a Monday night victory at Atlanta – a game that seems like it happened a long time ago.

“It is a long time ago,” Smith said.

In the six games since, Smith has thrown one touchdown, run for two and committed 11 turnovers, including 10 interceptions. He has completed 50 percent of his passes, including 39 percent in the past three games – 8 of 19, 8 of 23 and 9 of 22. In the past four games, as the Jets went 1-3, they scored four touchdowns – a Smith run, two Chris Ivory runs and a pass by unproven backup quarterback Matt Simms.

With the 5-6 Jets desperate for a win to stay alive in the race for the AFC’s final wildcard spot, Ryan said Monday he is sticking with Smith as his starter for Sunday’s game against Miami (5-6), despite Smith committing six turnovers (five picks) in the past two games. (The NFL changed the scoring Monday on Smith’s botched-snap fumble against the Ravens, and charged center Nick Mangold with the fumble.)

Ryan said Smith’s starting status is not guaranteed, because “if a guy is struggling, anybody can get benched.” The coach did not mince words while saying “we’ve got to get more production out of the quarterback position.” But he also said Smith’s recently meager stat line “doesn’t paint the whole picture.”

Ryan said drops and imprecise route-running did not help Smith’s cause Sunday. Wide receiver David Nelson said his position coach, Sanjay Lal, determined after watching film that the Jets’ receivers dropped three passes against the Ravens.

“We were trying to make big plays as a receiving group, instead of just taking what was given to us,” Nelson said. “We just became way too impatient. Maybe that means you’re not completely looking the ball all the way in. Maybe that means you’re not running your routes to the full depth because you’re trying to get to a spot, to kind of speed things up.”

Ryan said ineffective pass protection has also plagued Smith lately. Two weeks ago, Buffalo sacked him four times. Baltimore had three sacks. Buffalo hurried Smith 11 times, Baltimore 14 times, according to Pro Football Focus.

“We have to protect better,” right guard Willie Colon said. “He's forced to make some throws, and a lot of things are coming at him. Up front, we've got to help him out. But we're not. That's the disappointing part. We're not giving him the time he needs.”

Football is a nuanced game, so there will always be mitigating factors. While Ryan emphasized offensive shortcomings besides Smith’s play, perhaps to deflect criticism from a struggling rookie, he also bemoaned how Smith failed to take advantage of a blown coverage on his second pick Sunday – a 35-yard deep ball to the end zone. Smith tried to “feather” the pass to Greg Salas “instead of driving the ball in there,” Ryan said.

“Sometimes, it’s like: ‘Pull the trigger,’” Ryan said. “He’s got to learn from that. If a guy blows a coverage, you’ve got to fire it in there.”

Ryan went out of his way Monday to say film review showed Smith’s “pocket awareness” was better at Baltimore than at Buffalo. He remained in the pocket and stepped up to escape pressure at the proper times. He took off running when the moment required it. He also threw the ball away when coverage was too tight, Ryan said.

This season has been a constant balance for Smith – learning, while trying to win, all with no safety net (or threat) of a legitimate understudy. For whatever growth he has made, the facts remain. Smith has 22 turnovers and 18 picks this year. In the three games the Jets lost to 5-6 teams also chasing the second AFC wildcard – Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Baltimore – Smith threw one touchdown and had eight turnovers (six picks).

More of that Sunday against Miami, and the Jets could be cooked in this playoff chase. With the Jets at a tiebreaker disadvantage to the Steelers, Titans and Ravens, and December nearing, their season seems to be on the line Sunday.